Day 1 – Start with Surrender

²³ And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. ²⁴ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. ²⁵ For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? ²⁶ For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:23–26, ESV)

Jesus unloads a lot here. Let’s shift through it one verse at a time.

 And he said to all,

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

It’s important to remember, in our journey of following Jesus, that this is a daily commitment we are picking up. To often we can find ourselves doing the bare minimum or not even staying aware of who our Savior is throughout the day. We get to distracted with our own needs, temptations, priorities… that we forget to deny ourselves and take up the cross daily for the Lord who gave his life for our sins.

“For whoever

would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

Can I stress to you here; the importance of putting Jesus first, again. This is a critical part of Luke’s Gospel, that highlights Jesus’ reciprocation of our sacrifices for Him, as well as the devastation one will encounter by rejecting Christ and putting themselves first.

“For what

does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” ²⁶ For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”

Go ahead and put yourself, your money, your cars, your material possessions and your “good times” of disobedience… that’s not going to profit you much in the long run when we depart this world and enter the next, eternal, one.

If we’re to afraid to stand for Christ, who died for our sins, and the Gospel, which teaches us his word, then we can’t expect him to stand for us in the glory of his Kingdom.

Reflect:

• When’s the last time you said “no” to something you wanted to do, in order to put God first?

• What’s your daily habit of spending time with Jesus?

• What does ‘deny yourself, and pick up the cross and follow Him’, mean to you?

Today’s Focus:

Morning surrender → prayer over plans → invite God to lead your day.

🙏 Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you to thank you for your daily blessings you lay upon us. Today we seek your guidance and strength as we practice taking up our cross daily. Help us to deny ourselves and follow the path that leads to you. May we find courage in the challenges we face, and joy in our journey of faith. Thank you for the gift of your Grace, and for allowing us forgiveness along the way. Amen.

Thanks for being here and reading along!

Tomorrow we will be looking at Psalm for a little “feeding the soul before the scroll”, if you will lol

✝️ Have a blessed day friends! ✝️